Machine



` (N Model.)

l l 4-Sh'eets-SheeU2. 2J; KEITH.

` SEWING lLIACHIlVI- Noga-91,602 Patented Jan. a, 1884. 7

Nl PETERS PMlo-lhhumphlr. Wnlllllginn. D. C

(No Model.)

J, KEITH. I

` SEWING MACHINE. No. 291,602.l Patented Jan. 8, 1884.

Fig. g.

(NO'MOdel.) v

J. KEITH;

` SEWING MACHINE. 1\I0.z9 1,6o2.V

Illllllllllll Y 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

Patented Jaml 8,1834:` i

at lits oppositeend to a short lateral arm proing at its .outer endbeyond the loop-con- N i rim-ED SMTS JEEEMIAH `KEITH, on ELoEENCE,MASSACHUSETTS, nssrenon To FLORENCE MACHINECOMPANY, or SAME PLACE.

sEwiNe-MAoHiNE.

' SPECEICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 291,602, dated Jameya, leeft.

u l l Applicaticn tiled June 9, 1853. (No model.)

Be' it known that I, JEEEML-irr KEITH, of Florence, in the town ofNorthamptomcounty `ofliziampshire, ,and State of Massachusetts, `haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Sewing-Machines; and Ido hereby declare that the following specifica- 1 tion, taken inconnection with tl1e"drawings `furnished and forming a part of the same,is

a clear, true, `and complete description of the 4 several features of`my invention.

My present improvements relate, mainly, to

, that class of machines shown and described 1883, disclose for the rsttime the combina-- tion, with an eye-pointed needle and looper, of areciprocating loop-controller which positivelycontrols` a loop duringthe forward movement of the looper for engaging `withfa fresh loopadjacent to the needle.

My said former loop-controller was in the form of a slender rod, bent atits working-tip, pivoted ',.jecting'from the: shuttle-driving lever,"and it had a guide-bearing between said workinga tip and said arm.Although said prior loopcontroller performs good service, it is, whenoperated at extraordinary high speed, more l or less liable toobjectionable vibration at its` tip; and I have" now practicallyovercome that obj ectionby mounting my loop controller upon a slidingrodorbar which has a guide-beartroller, and sothat Said loop-controller islocated between` said bearing and the pivoted `-end of the bar; and Ihave also somounted the loop-controlleron said bar that it may beconveniently adjusted with relation to the looper. In; orderthat saidloop-controller shall,` however, be more assuredly free from vibrationsat its tip or point, I have mounted it upon comparatively heavylongitudie, So far as my knowledge extends, my .p i said Letters PatentNo.` 273,854, March `13,

i nally-reciprocating slidebar, which imparts` the lifting movement tothe feed-bar, and em.-

e PATENT @Errcngfji ploy therewith a rock-shaft and cam for ini- 4parting a longitudinal reciprocating movement to the feed-bar, insteadof relying upon a rotating feed shaft and cam for wholly actuatingthefeed-bar and vibrating my looper,

as in my last-named prior Letters Patent;

and to enable the maehineto be operated with` less power thanheretofore, notwithstanding", the separate use of the reciprocatingslide-v i bar and the rock-shaft and cam for actuating the feed-bar, Ihave combined with sai'd rockshaft and the main shaft of the machine asuspended pivoted `vibrating lever, connected at its lower end by a linkto the rock-shaft, and forked at its upper end, so as to be engaged by acam on the main shaft. employ the usual pendent lever and cam on themain shaft for operating the shuttle-'driving lever, in connection withmy pendent lever for operating the feed-shaft and looper;

i stili and as` these two levers are vibrated oppo- Vsitely to eachother, they are smoothly and easily operated. In order that fabriesmaybe easily swung around on the work-plate for enabling Short corners tobe turned, as in both plain and fancy stitching or embroidery,

it is well known to be desirable that the l presser-foot beautomatically lifted at each upward stroke of the needle, so that thecloth may be freely pivoted on the latter; and, as

heretofore, for that purpose I employ a lift- `ing-lever actuated byacam on the main shaft in the head4 of the machine, and a set or clampscrew by which the fulcrum. of the lever `may be set in variedpositions,and thereby vary the degree of lift on the presser-foot; but Ihave improved said lifting and adj usting contrivances by mounting saidlever upon a lateral slide and providing the latter with a set or clampscrew, so that the lever is supported by the slide instead ofbeing-,supporta 4 ed kby the set-screw, as heretofore, and there- A forethe jar incident to the vibrations of the lever, and also to thealternate strains thereon at its opposite ends, are borne by said slideinstead of the screw, and I have thereby pro-. vided an accurate,durable, and reliable means of adjustment.

To more particularly describe my invention I will refer to theaccompanying four sheets of drawings, in which- Figure l, Sheet 1, is abottom\view of a machine embodying my said improvements in their bestform. Fig. 2, Sheet 2, is a rear end viewof the interior ofthe head ofthe machine, showing the main shaft, cam thereon, vibrating pendentlever, link, and the rock-shaft which imparts a forward movement to thefeed-bar. Fig. 8, Sheet 2, is an edge view of the sliding bar whichcarries the loop-controller, and also imparts to the feed-bar itslifting movement, said feed-bar being shown in dotted lines. Fig. 4,Sheet 3, is a bottom view of so much of a machine as is deemed necessaryfor illustrating the loop-controller operated by the shuttle-lever, asin my prior machine, but arranged in accordance with my presentinvention to obviate undue vibration. Fig, 5, Sheet 3, illustrates areciprocating slidebar provided with my loop-controller, when saidslide-bar serves as the lifting medium for a leed-bar, and performs saidlifting movement while moving forward instead of rearward, asillustrated in Figs. l and 8. Fig. 6, Sheet 4,y is a front view of thehead of my machine,with so much thereof broken away as will disclose thecam, the lifting-lever, slide, and set-screw, by which the presser-footis liftedpduring the operation of the machine; and the looper andloop-controller is also therein shown as if in operation. Fig. 7, Sheet4, illustrates in detail said lifting-lever, slide, and screw detached.

In Fig. 1 mymachine is shown as if applied l to aftable and tipped up,so that the under side "of the bed-plate A and` the adjacent opmy saidprior patent.

erative mechanism is fully disclosed. The oscillating looper B,with itscast-off, operates with an eye-pointed needle, Fig. 6, as in my l priorLetters Patent No. 273,854, and it is clutched to the feed-shaft C, Fig.1, and controlled by thelever C', and thrown into service by the shuttleC2, as shown and described in The feed-shaft C, howf ever, instead ofbeing a revolving shaft, as in as seen, in Fig. 8,with a wedge-shapedcam, c

as heretofore in other classes of shuttle mai machine' chines.' Thesliding bar e is longitudinally reciprocated by means of abell-cranklever, d', and a pendent vibrating lever, d, within the rear verticalportion of the head of the The bell-crank lever cl is pivotally mountedupon the same stud, d2, upon which 'the usual shuttle-driving lever ispivoted and mounted, as indicated in dotted lines, Fig. l, 'andsaidshuttle-lever is vibrated by the same pendent lever d', having itsconnection there` I with by the usual fork and ball, as clearly shown.

Upon the side of the sliding bar c my loop- 7o controller D is mounted,its'shank being slotted for engagement by the screw e, to enableconvenient and careful original adjustment of the loopfcontroller uponthe slide-bar and with relation to the looper B, as well as any neces- 75 sary subsequent variation in the adjustment thereof. lt will be seenthat the outer end of the slide-bar c beyond the loop-controller isfitted to slide through properly-fitted guidebearings in the bracket c?,and that although 30 the short arm of the bell-crank lever ld imparts tothe rear end of the slide-bar a slightly vibratory movement, this lattermovement is not materially imparted to the tip or workingpoint of theloop-controller D, and that said 8; point or tip will be assuredlylimited to its proper movement, and with practically no vibration,whether the machine be operated slowly or at extraordinary high speed.While, the combination including said feeding slide- 9o bar and the.loop controller constitutes one portion of my invention, it is to beunderstood that I do not herein limit myselfto the loop-controller somounted, for it constitutes h a valuable improvement to mount the loop-9 5 controller upon a slide-bar, which in no man-l ner affects thefeed-bar, as is illustrated in Fig4, wherein the loop-controller D ismounted upon a sliding bar, c3, having at its outer end a slide bearing'orI guide in the bracket c2, and an-V other bearing at c4, and said baris connected to an arm ou the shuttle-lever by means ofthe link c5. Vthaproperly-fitted outer end bearing at 02,'the inner guide-bearing, c",may be dispensed with, and in that case the link c5 105 may alsobedispensed with, and connection of the bar c3 can then be made directlywith the short arm on the shuttle-lever, as in my prior niachine;'butthis latter connection is not` ernployed by me when the slide-bara3also'serves to actuate the feed-bar, because, in view of the extra workthen performed by said 'slide rod or bar, I deem it advisable to employthe sepal rate bell-crank lever d, as shown in Fig. 1j A In thosemachines wherein the feed-bar is lifted by the forward movement of asliding bar, c, it is obvious that the loop-controller D should projecttoward therear end ofthe sliding bar, asillustrated in Fig. 5,theslide-bear` ing in the bracket ct being slotted,k as indicated in thesectional view of said figure, to enable the loop-controller to pass toand fro freelythrough the bracket. In each instance it will be seen thatthe loop-controller Dis mounted upon a sliding rod or bar, which has atits outer end a slide bearing or guide, and that in each instance thesaid controller is adjustably mounted on said rod or bar, and those nfeatures constitute separate portionsk of my present invention. V [13o Iwill next refer to Figs. l and 2 and de scribe the mechanism interveningbetween the main shaft E and the rock-shaft C.

While it is not broadly new to impart the IOO IIO

rocking movement to a feed-shaft by means of a cam, E', on the mainshaft, Vand a pendent lever, F, pivoted upon and supported by astud, f,and connected to the feed-shaft by means of an arm, g, thereon, and alink, li, `I am the first to organize those elements in combination witha looper operated by the feedshaft; and this feature is of special valuewhen the looper is organized to operate in the shuttle-race of a machinecapable of shuttle lockstitch sewing', and also single-thread orchainstitch sewing, not only because the pendent lever which operatesthe feed-bar and looper can be vibrated so as to balance thel vibrationsof the shuttle-levers, and thereby cause the machine to run evenly andsmoothly, but

. also because a looper operating in a shuttle-race must be locatedbetween the feed-shaft and the vertical path of the needle, so as toprovide for the reception of intermediate clutching mechanism, and alsoto allow the looper to be thrown wholly backward out of the shuttleracewhen a shuttleis to be employed. The

` `upper end of said pendent lever Fis slotted or forked to receive thecam, and suitable provisions for compensating for wear are made at thecam-fork and at the connections of said lever with its pivot, Vas wellas at both ends of the link. With these parts thus constructed andcombined I obtain the proper movements of the feedshaft and looper withbut little friction ofthe parts, and greatly contribute to light, easy,and noiseless operation. It will be obvious that the movements of thependent pivoted lever cl,which vibrates the shuttle-lever G, and whichalso vibrates the bell-crank lever d, are practically opposite to themovement s of the pivoted lever, and therefore this por tion of themachine is well balanced and operates equally smooth and easy, whetherthe looper or the shuttle be employed.

As hereinbefore indicated, I have embodied in my machine means forautomatically lifting the presserfoot, so that the fabric may be freelyswiveled or turned upon or around the e5 e-pointed needle t', as invarious prior machines, and I employ in this connection, as heretofore,a cam, k, at the front end of main shaft, as seen in Fig. 6, forvibrating the lifting-lever Z; but this latter is mounted by me in anovel manner, in that it is a bellcrank lever pivoted at Z to a lateralslideplate, m, which is fitted to a lateral slot in the rear side of thehead of the machine. By moving the slide-plate m inwardly or outwardlythe position of the pivot or fulcrum Z is varied with relation to thecam 7a and presser-foot bar n, causing the latter to be lifted more orless, as may be desired. The slide-plate is longitudinall y slotted, asclearly indicated, and its slot is occupied by a flanged nut, o, whichis engaged by the thumbscrew o', which occupies a hole or seat in therear side of the head, so that said slide-plate, after adjustment, canbe readily clamped in position. These parts as thus organized by mecause the slide-plate to support the bell-crank lever and the strainsthereon, instead of using thethumb-screw as the fulcrum for said lever,as heretofore; and I therefore materially obviate the liability ofloosening said screw, render the latter more durable, and avoid theconscquentliability of variation in adjustment heretofore incident tothe employment of the thumb-screw as a fulcrum for the lever.

Having thus described my invention, Iclaim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent- 1. The combination, with the eye-pointed needle andlooper, ofthe loop-controller mounted upon a sliding rod provided with aslide bearing or guide at its outer end and beyond the loop-controller,substantially as described.

2. The combination, with the eye-pointed needle, looper, feed bar, andreciprocating slide-bar which lifts the feed-bar, ofthe loop` controllermounted upon said slide-bar, substantially as described.

3. The combination of the oscillating looper and the loop-controlleradjustably mounted upon a longitudinallyreciprocating rod or bar,substantially'as described.

4L. The combination ofthe oscillating looper operating within ashuttle-race, the feed rock shaft -for oscillatingsaid looper whenclutched thereto, the link, the pendent forked lever, the main shaft,and the cam thereon, engaging with. the fork of said lever,substantially as described.

5. The combination, with the cain'uon the main shaft and thepresser-foot bar, ofthe bell-crank lever for lifting said bar, theslideplate on which said lever is pivoted, and the set-screw forconfining said plate in position, substantially as described.

J EREMIAI-I KEITH.

IVitnesses: A

J. C. BUcKLnr, E. L. KIRBY.

IOO

